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School of Public Policy and Leadership News

The School of Public Policy and Leadership employs an interdisciplinary approach to create knowledge and understanding to support effective policy and governance through collaborations of faculty, students, and the greater community. Our programs enable students to master the key principles of public management, research, and public policy so they can spark change, improvement, and resiliency in communities.

Current Public Policy and Leadership News

A UNLV student studies with the Strip in the distance.
Campus News |

Headlines and highlights featuring the students and faculty of UNLV.

UNLV XMAS
Campus News |

This month’s frosty headlines and highlights from the students and faculty of UNLV.

unlv pumpkins
Campus News |

A monthly roundup of the top news stories at UNLV, featuring the presidential election, gaming partnerships, and much more.

UNLV alumna Aileen Pastor relaxes on a park bench on campus with her feet up
People |

Urban Affairs Alumna of the Year — and die-hard Rebel — Aileen Pastor parlays her internship into a career with the Regional Transportation Commission.

Undergrad researcher Benjamin Sabir helps H. Jeremy Cho examine an atmospheric water harvesting device. (Jeff Scheid/UNLV)
Campus News |

A monthly roundup of the top news stories featuring UNLV staff and students.

A portrait of Jaewon Lim, an associate professor of public policy.
Campus News |

UNLV's School of Public Policy and Leadership offers courses in data visualization that are helping to create a workforce pipeline.

Public Policy and Leadership In The News

Las Vegas Review Journal

President Donald Trump’s action to pause all federal spending could halt money that proved critical in bringing Lake Mead levels up from historic lows, putting more solar panels on top of Nevadans’ houses and getting more electric vehicles on the road.

Forbes

In the wake of the raging California wildfires, environmental groups are shifting the climate conversation away from mitigation, toward adaptation and resilience.

KSNV-TV: News 3

Deadly fires tearing through Los Angeles County have displaced thousands of people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures in what might be the most expensive wildfire destruction in the nation's history.

KCBS Radio

Today: We're learning how climate disasters could set off a shift in policy both here in California and around the country. This, as lawmakers weigh climate action policies and juggle questions of sustainability, development and governance. To talk about that and more, KCBS Radio news anchor Eric Thomas spoke with Dr. Ben Leffel, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

KSNV-TV: News 3

Raging California wildfires have caused two fuel pipelines in Los Angeles to shut down amidst power outages. Now concerns are growing amongst many drivers who say they fear that impact could cause delays and fuel shortages across southern Nevada.

Nevada Independent

Elon Musk’s Boring Company spent years pitching cities on a novel solution to traffic, an underground transportation system to whisk passengers through tunnels in electric vehicles. Proposals in Illinois and California fizzled after officials and the public began scrutinizing details of the plans and seeking environmental reviews.

Public Policy and Leadership Experts

An expert in violence prevention programs.
An expert on HR management and development.
An expert on local government and public policy. 
Lee Bernick is a professor with expertise in state and local public policy, survey research, public budgeting, and legislative behavior.
An expert on sustainability governance by cities, states, and corporations globally.
An expert in regional demographics, workforce development, and sustainable economic development.

Recent Public Policy and Leadership Accomplishments

Vicky Albert (Social Work), Jaewon Lim, and Daeyoung Kwon (both Public Policy and Leadership) recently published an article in the Sustainability Journal. In their article "Geographic Analysis of Four Social Safety Nets’ Responsiveness to the Pandemic Recession and Social Sustainability," they investigate…
The National Academy of Public Administration has announced 42 new inductions for the 2024 Class of Academy Fellows, including professor Edgar E. Ramirez de la Cruz (Public Policy and Leadership). The National Academy of Public Administration is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, chartered by Congress in 1967 to provide expert advice to…
Jacob D. Skousen (Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education) published a paper titled, "Making Nevada Schools Safer: The State of Empirical Evidence." The policy paper reviews the measures taken to improve school safety. He reports that the evidence shows that overall safety in the nation’s elementary and secondary schools has…
A new study led by professor Ben Leffel (Public Policy and Leadership) has been selected for the inaugural Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize as a finalist, which "recognizes research with the greatest potential to spur immediate change in the face of environmental crises". The study, by Leffel and University of Michigan coauthors…
Ph.D. student Aaron Colleta (Public Policy and Leadership) has been honored as a Founders' Fellow by the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) this year. The Founders' Fellows program is designed to support and advance the next generation of public service leaders, providing significant professional development opportunities. Aaron…
Ben Leffel (Public Policy and Leadership) has published a new piece in npj Climate Action (with coauthors Don Grant and Evan Johnson) on what matters for decarbonizing power plants: They show that for the world's power plants, what matters for carbon emissions reductions (2009-2018) is not national-level climate policy, but city-level climate…